Maybe you stumbled upon a funny clip from their podcast. Maybe you’ve seen some of their video game journalism work. Maybe you have some friends who cosplay characters from The Adventure Zone. However you went about it, you’ve probably encountered some form of content created by the McElroy Brothers. This post will serve as a guide for those looking to dive even deeper into the media empire created by Justin, Travis, and Griffin!

My Brother, My Brother and Me

Here’s where it all started. Three brothers decided to make a podcast together where they give comedic advice to both listener questions and Yahoo Answers questions submitted by fans. Simple concept, right? Well, the brothers take this idea and make it soar with their incomparable, hilarious chemistry. Each episode has at least a few golden nuggets of comedic genius, like this Criss Angel-inspired moment brought to life by animator Louie Zhong:

Justin, Travis, and Griffin took the laugh alchemy powering their podcast and made a TV show out of it! WHICH YOU CAN WATCH EXCLUSIVELY HERE!! While it’s a bit more polished than its source material, MBMBaM the TV series still captures the improvisatory magic of the brothers and gives it a… unique visual identity which you can see in the horrifying .gif above!

Polygon

Justin and Griffin are two of the founding editors of Polygon, Vox Media’s video game journalism website. While the two do contribute reviews and news coverage, I’d like to focus on their contributions to the website’s video content, which is a bit more unconventional.

Have you ever spent hours in a game’s character creation engine making the most grotesque humanoid possible? Well take that feeling and extrapolate it into an entire YouTube series and you get Monster Factory! From a lopsided man-boy mayor created in Second Life to a Mass Effect character whose face is just… a disaster… almost every episode of this series reaches such comedic heights that I can feel my mind splintering from all the laughing my face is doing.

World of Warcraft is a game built on violence: it’s extremely difficult to progress in the game without killing hordes of enemies. In this let’s play series, Griffin lays down his sword and pursues the path of the dove, the path of peace! The lengths this boy goes to in his no-kill run result in a real treat of a let’s play series.

Have you ever watched an Amiibo reviewer on YouTube and thought to yourself, “well this is great and all, but can they fit that toy in their mouth?” Then Griffin’s Amiibo Corner is for you! The baby-est McElroy puts Nintendo’s collectibles to the test by analyzing all of the most important aspects: the paint lines, the unlockable content, and, of course, the mouthfeel.

The Podcasts

In addition to MBMBaM, the brothers McElroy run a plethora of other podcasts! Here are some of my favorites:

Laughing is great but have you considered trying CRYING? Because you’ll do a lot of that if you listen to this tabletop gaming podcast. Oh, it starts lighthearted enough, like a silly, fantasy-themed extension of My Brother, My Brother and Me (which it actually was), but stick around long enough and main characters Magnus, Merle, and Taako will grip your heartstrings and NEVER LET GO. If that wasn’t enticing enough, just watch this fan-made trailer for the first story arc of the show:

Did you know that Justin’s wife, Sydnee, is a doctor? Did you know that the two of them have a podcast where she explains fascinating medical facts and anecdotes while Justin acts like a goober? Sawbones is an endearing and interesting tour of the medical profession from our oldest brother and his extremely smart (and patient) wife. Here’s a super good indication of the cadence of the show, courtesy of another talented fan animator:

Shmanners

Are you a horrendous slob with no honor or sense of decorum? Fear not! Middlest brother Travis McElroy and his wife Teresa McElroy are here to rectify your behavior! Tune in every week and learn etiquette for every occasion! Unfortunately I couldn’t find any excerpts or fan animations, but please just take my word for it that this delightful podcast is certainly worth your time!

Last on our list is a lovely little podcast by Griffin and his wife Rachel. This podcast is just… really, really cute. And funny. It just makes me smile a lot, okay? Its charm is pretty difficult to verbalize, so I’ll just leave you with this wonderful little excerpt from episode 1: